ASPCA Arrests Bronx Man for Shooting, Killing Neighbor’s Maltese

On April 12, the ASPCA arrested a Bronx man for shooting his neighbor’s Maltese, Spike, after the dog wandered into his yard.

Donald Savino, 73, had signs in his yard that said “keep your dog off the grass.” When Spike slipped out the door and into Savino’s yard, Savino allegedly shot him with an air rifle from his window.

“He was smelling a tree,” Spike’s pet parent, Marco Lopez, told The New York Daily News. “Suddenly, I hear this noise....I hear my dog cry—he was screaming in pain.”

Lopez rushed his dog to an emergency veterinarian, but Spike couldn’t be saved and was humanely euthanized. ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement Agents took Spike’s body to the ASPCA Animal Hospital, where our forensic veterinarians determined he had been shot twice, in two separate incidents, and that his injuries would have been fatal.

“You have no idea all the pain we went through,” Lopez told The Daily News. “We loved (Spike) so much....It was such a terrible way that he died.”

Savino was charged with aggravated animal cruelty, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief and possession of an air rifle.

We can’t believe what happened to Spike, and we’re fighting every day to stop animal cruelty and ensure those who harm animals pay for their crimes. If you know of animal cruelty in your area, please report it. Animals are counting on us.